Analysis

Briefing: Reeves treads water following Autumn Budget, cranking tax in response ‘to events out of her control’

By James Dowling 2025-11-28T09:00:00

James Dowling Negotient

James Dowling, founding partner at Negotient, unpicks chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget speech – for him, the Labour politician is not quite in the clear yet

The 1957 poem Not waving but drowning, by Stevie Smith, describes desperate motion mistaken for cheer. On the basis of Wednesday’s (26 November 2025) Autumn Budget performance, chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves was not drowning – but she was treading water, with ominously less clearance than hoped for.

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